Merle B. Gustafson - Submitted for the USGenWeb by Richard P. Sevier 4/27/2012

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Merle B. Gustafson - Madison Parish, Louisiana

From Tallulah Madison Journal, October 11, 1984

Friends pay respects to Merle Gustafson
By Carroll Regan

"The eagle has fallen." Thus began the tribute written by pilots at the funeral last Friday for Merle Gustafson, 
a legend in his own right.

Merle B. Gustafson, 51, a nationally known airobatic stunt pilot died Thursday at a Greenville, Miss. burn center 
where he had been in critical condition for two weeks.

Gustafson was badly burned by the explosion of a fuel tank in a boat on which he was working. The accident occurred 
at Scott Airport, where the boat was located. A friend, owner of the shrimp boat, was also injured from the explosion, 
though not as bad as Gustafson.

A spokesman at the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Center at Greenville, where he was taken by helicopter 
after the accident, said he sustained second and third degree burns over 62 percent of his body. He suffered second 
degree burns over 31 percent of his body.

Gustafson, a farmer and crop duster, was a colonel in the Confederate Air Force (CAF), an organization of about 8,000 
pilots. Most own and fly World War II fighter planes and participate in air shows nationwide.

Scott Airport was filled with planes flown in by CAF members Friday, a tribute to Gustafson's popularity.

The fact that he was well-known in flying circles was evident Thursday. "I've had phone calls from just about every state 
in the South," said Phillip Crothers, owner of Crothers Funeral Home, which handled funeral arrangements.

According to family members, Gustafson participated in as many as 35 air shows a year. The last show in which he performed 
was at Pine Bluff, Ark. in September.

When he performed in the 1979 National Air Races in Reno, other pilots there referred to him as the "granddaddy of them 
all" because of his expert flying abilities, family members recall. His renown in the flying world interested California 
film makers, and in 1975 a movie based on his exploits was released under the title "The Country Boy."

Gustafson's interest in planes and flying started when he was 14 years old. As a teenager, he worked at Farm Air Service, 
loading planes with chemicals for dusting. The first plane he flew was a Piper J-3 Cub while he was still in high school.

For the past 11 years, Gustafson took special pride in flying a U.S. Navy Corsair he restored. Practically all of 
Tallulah recognized the sleek blue Corsair, the "Angel of Okinawa," with its powerful engine roaring overhead with 
Gustafson at the controls.

A memorial service for Gustafson was held Friday at 2 p.m. at Tallulah First United Methodist Church with the Revs. 
David Lawrence, Ray Robbins and Larry Miller officiating. Following the service, mourners gathered behind the church on 
the banks of Brushy Bayou to witness seven CAF friends perform a "missing-man" formation flyover as a memorial to 
Gustafson. Following the flyover, Howard Pardue of Breckinridge, Tex. roared over the bayou in his Corsair to climax 
the emotional event.

Burial was in Providence Memorial Park Cemetery in Tallulah.

Gustafson was a member of the First Baptist Church of Tallulah and Tallulah Masonic Lodge No. 308 F&AM.

He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Sylvia Osborne Gustafson; a daughter, Gay Purvis; a son, Steve Gustafson; his parents, 
Mr. and Mrs. Manfred Gustafson, all of Tallulah; three sisters, Alice Gaumnitz and Arlice Evans, both of Tallulah, and 
Mavis Bledsoe of St. Petersburg, Fla.; and four grandchildren.

The family requested that memorials be sent to the Mississippi Firefighters Memorial Burn Center in Greenville, or 
First Baptist Church.